Key ring holder



S. F. AYOUB KEY RING HOLDER Jan. 1, 1957 Filed Aug. 7, 1955 INVENTOR.6.92m F. Agoub United States Patent KEY RING HOLDER Sam F. Ayoub, ElPaso, Tex. Application August 7, 1953, Serial No. 373,029

1 Claim. c1. 24 -3 This invention relates to key ring holders and moreparticularly to the type of key ring holder adapted for attachment to abelt.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a key ring holder ofsimple two part construction wherein a key ring may be easily placedtherein and the holder then made secure so as to prevent accidentaldisplacement of the key ring.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a key ring holder inwhich the key ring will be positively prevented by interengaging,movable latch means from accidental loss or unwarranted removal.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdetailed description, forming the specification, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the key holder embodying thisinvention supported upon a belt and showing the component parts in openposition;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view showing the parts in their latchedor closed position;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view similar to Figure 2 but showing thecomponent parts in the relation of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the retainer element;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the slide element; and

Figure 6 is a blank of material from which the slide of Figure 5 may bemade.

The key holder of this invention, generally indicated by the referencenumeral 10, is shown in Figure l as being supported from a belt 12 andretaining the ring 14 of a key chain (not shown). The key ring holdercomprises two parts, a retainer generally indicated at 16 (Figure 4) anda slide, generally indicated at 18, shown in Figure 5.

The retainer element 16 is a single piece of flat material, which may beplastic, tin, sheet metal or other suitable material. As shown in Figure4, the strip of fiat material from which the retainer 16 is fashioned isoppositely bent to form two hooks 20 and 22 and an intermediateconnecting portion 24. The hook 20 which is formed between theconnecting portion 24 and a downwardly depending leg 26, ofapproximately the same linear dimension as the connecting portion 24, isadapted to be placed over and be retained by a belt, such as belt 12.The lower end of the hook 20 resiliently abuts the arcuate portion 28 ofthe outwardly facing hook 22 due to the resilience of the material fromwhich the retainer is fashioned. Hook 22 is dependingly carried by theintermediate connecting portion 24, and the arcuate section 28 extendslaterally toward the leg 26 and then curves outwardly and upwardlyterminating in a curved ear or lug 30. A groove 32 is providedtransversely of the car 30 and adjacent the outermost end thereof. Theintermediate connecting portion 24 has a stop tongue 34 struck from itand extending in a direction towards the leg 26 and lying in ahorizontal plane with respect to the porpreviously indicated materials.The blank 36 comprises a centrally elongated rectangular member 38 andtwo shorter generally rectangular wings 40 and 42. The wings 40 and 42are integrally joined to the central member 38 along lines of bend 44and 46 respectively. It will be noted that the lower end of the centralmember 38 extends beyond the lower edges of the wings .40 and 42 andcarries adjacent this lower end a raised boss or ridge 48. The centralmember 38 is extended upwardly and is formed in the shape of the head ofa key in the form of an extension 50. A pair of slots 52 and 54 areprovided on either side of the central member 38 and extend from thelower end of the lines of bend 44 and 46 to the lower ends of the wings40 and 42.

To form the slide 18 from the blank 36, the wings 40 and 42 are bentalong the lines of told 44 and 46 respectively, towards each other, andsince the wings 40 and 42 are each approximately one-half the width ofthe central member 38, they will approximately abut to form the backsection 56 of the slide 18. As a result of this bending operation, thecentral member 38 will form the front section or face of the slide 18and the rear section 56 will be spaced from and generally parallel tothe front face 58 to define a passageway rectangular in cross section.The lower portion of the central member 38 is arcuately formed toproject outwardly away from the back section 56 to form a latch tongue60. It will be seen that the latch tongue 60 now carries the ridge 48 onits inner surface.

The wings 40 and 42 of the blank 36 when bent in the manner hereinbeforedescribed, will be placed on the connecting portion 24 of the retainer16 to encircle the connecting portion and be slidably retained thereon.The extension 50 now provides a thumb piece or grip by which the slidecan be moved longitudinally of the connecting portion 24.

When the component parts, the retainer 16 and the slide 18, arefashioned together in the manner described, the slide 18 will be free tomove along the connecting portion 24 but limited in its movement in onedirection by the bight 62 interconnecting the leg 26 and connectingportion 24, and limited in sliding movement in the other direction bythe stop tongue 34.

In the open position, shown in Figures 1 and 3, the slide 18 has beenraised to its approximate limit of travel in the direction of the bight62 which forms a stop for the slide. In this open position, a ring, suchas ring 14, of a key chain may be placed in the book 22 to besupportingly retained therein. The slide is then moved by the thumbpiece 64 to its limit of travel in the other direction abutting the stoptongue 34. During the travel of the slide 18 in the direction towardsthe stop tongue 34, the latch tongue 60 will ride over the end of theear 30 on the book 22, and when the slide is in abutment with the stoptongue 34 the ridge 48 will be engaged in the groove 32. Thus, the ridge48 and the groove 32 constitute interconnecting latch means whereby thering 14 may be securely retained within the hook 22 and preventaccidental displacement of the ring 14 from the hook 22. This locked orlatched position is shown in Figure 2.

In order to release the latch means provided by the cooperation betweenthe groove 32 and the ridge 48, slight manual pressure may be applied tothe lower end of the ear 30 and the slide raised by gripping the thumbpiece 64 to move the slide 18 in the direction of the stop provided bythe bight 62.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that there has Patented Jan. 1,1957 been provided a key ring holder having a retainer and a slidecarried on the retainer, and interengaging latch means carried by theslide and by a hook onthe retainer.

While there is shown and described the preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is to. be understood that the structure is susceptible tochange and n odifieation within the practicability of the invention andtherefiore should be limited only by the scope of the claims appendedhereto.

What is claimed is:

A key ring holder comprising a retainer and a slide carried on theretainer, said retainer having an intermediate portion and a resilienthook element carried by said intermediate portion and terminating in afree end adapted to retain the key ring, said hook element carryns.flamer die the nd h of a sto t ns projegting from said intermediateportion, a dependent latch tongue carried by said slide, said tonguehaving a ridge thereon engageable with said groove under resilientaction of said hook element when said slide is moved into abuttingrelation with respect to said tongue stop, and a thumb piece integrallyformed on said slide to facilitate movement of the slide upon theretainer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

